Mary Kom, Kavita win gold at Asian Indoors

Four-time World champion M C Mary Kom staved off stiff resistance from local pugilist Hoa Nguyen Thi to win the 46 kg title as India won two gold medals and as many silver in women's boxing of the third Asian Indoor Games in Hanoi on Wednesday.

Kavita Goyat (64kg) won the second gold for India while L Sarita Devi (54 kg) and N Usha (57kg) bagged a silver each.

Mary Kom had to dig dip into her vast experience against the Vietnamese, who was not intimidated by the reputation of the Indian.

Kom was the first to open the account and was 1-0 up after first round. The second round showed the local boxer matching Mary Kom punch for punch as both scored two points each.

The third round was more entertaining as both the boxers went all out for points and scored three each, with Mary Kom leading 6-5.

In the final round, Mary Kom not only held off the Vietnamese but scored two crucial points to the local opponent's one to win the bout 8-6.

Kavita fetched India's second gold in boxing by defeating Khassenova Saida of Kazhakstan 8-4 in a close final bout in the 64kg category.

At the end of third round, Kavita was leading by just a point at 5-4 but the Indian scored three points without reply in the final round to win the bout.

In contrast to Kavita's showing, L Sarita Devi lost her 54kg final bout against Zhang Qin of China at the final round.

Sarita was leading 5-4 at the end of third round but in the final round she conceded five points to the Chinese to two herself to go down 7-9 for a silver.

Usha started a low-scoring bout well against Laopeam Peamwilai of Thailand by opening account in the first round. But the Indian could not score a single point in the next two rounds while her opponent collected three.

Usha was trailing 1-3 at the start of the final round and the Indian tried hard but could scored only one point to lose the bout 2-3.

Meanwhile, W Sandhyarani fetched a bronze in women's 56 kg wushu. She lost her semifinal match against Iran's Maryam Tavakoli 0-2.